Tallahassee, FL – On December 7, around 35 people assembled at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Tallahassee for the People’s Award Gala. Hosted by the Tallahassee Community Action Committee (TCAC), the event celebrated organizations and activists that have led the resistance against Trump’s agenda in Tallahassee.
Awards were handed out for categories such as Best Immigrants Rights Group, Best LGBTQ+ Activist Group, Best Mutual Aid Organization, and Best New Activist, awarded to three recipients – Juniper Curtis (TCAC), Brandon Beckett of (Tallahassee Immigrants Rights Alliance – TIRA), and Alice Bostwick (Tallahassee Students for a Democratic Society – SDS).
“I’m beyond thankful to be a part of not only TIRA but the Tallahassee activist community as a whole,” Brandon said in his acceptance speech. “As I am inspired by you all to understand every injustice in the world, I grow more compassion for every person that has faced systemic injustice. As this compassion grows, I move further away from the nihilism that used to plague me in the past, and I realize every day that the purpose in life is to care. Activism has given me a reason to care, a reason to show up, and a reason to keep going.”
Special awards for Community Freedom Fighters were handed out to local victims of police brutality and ICE attacks. Recipients included Calvin and Dalfnie Riley, who fought back against a wrongful conviction and sentencing after Calvin Riley had evidence planted on him by Tallahassee Police Department; Jingles and Rodderick Johnson, who organized rallies and marches in Madison, Florida after Jingles Johnson survived being shot in the jaw by a Madison County Sheriff Deputy, and Amanda Parrish Macedo, who drove hundreds of miles to Texas to track down and free her husband, Tino, after he was abducted by ICE in a mass raid.
In his acceptance speech, Calvin Riley said, “I wouldn’t have went through this course this long just to take a plea deal or just to be silent. I did this because in the community is someone like me that’s going through the same or similar things and they don’t have no one to turn to. So if you’re listening, you have someone to turn to. It’s called TCAC.”
TCAC is also one of the organizations in the newly minted Tallahassee Coalition Against Trump and ended the night by inviting all the attendees to the coalition’s rally for International Human Rights Day. Taking place on Saturday, December 13, at 1 pm, organizers will be showing up to denounce Trump’s attacks with demands of “Hands off Palestine” and “Hands off Venezuela!”
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